Johnson18's Emersed Tanks

Welcome to my emersed journey!

I'm working to update this first post to include the current specs: tanks, lights/bulbs, etc., my plant list and such as everything has changed in the last year since I began setting up my first emersed tank. I am also in the process of packing my house up to move cross country to Tucson, AZ in May 2014. Once there, I will be building my rack set up for my emersed tanks, at which point I hope to make all my emersed tanks identical sizes(probably 40G Breeders) and expand to have several more tanks than my current two.

I am almost always looking for new Cryptocoryne species to add to my collection! If you have a species that you don't see here, shoot me a PM, I'm probably interested in adding it to my collection!!

Original 1st post!
I posted this in the general discussion earlier, since I've gone ahead and started the tank I thoughts a I'd want to update the thread, seemed like a good start for a journal!

Here is my post from earlier:

I've become pretty interested in growing plants emersed, mostly crypts, but I want to try several plants. I've done a bit of reading on the subject. I decided to give it a go using a 20 long I've got sitting around.

My plan is to use some basic plastic tupper ware containers to start. I plan on drilling wholes in the bottom of each container. I am wondering if I should drill some on the lower half of the sides too? If drilling doesn't work for some reason, like plastic cracking, I saw somewhere on a cryptocoryne website where a person used a blow torch and a nail to melt wholes in the containers. I've got the tools to do that if needed.

For lighting I've got either a dual lamp t5ho 24" or 48". I believe both have one 6700 and one 10k bulb...

I'm planning on using some MG top soil I have around the house. Wondering if I should mix anything in with it... Sand, peat moss, osmocote+, or...??

Water will probably be filled below the substrate level, though if some plants need it higher I can always add a taller lever to part of the tank using crates or something.

I will probably start out with plastic wrap as a top. Eventually getting some plex as a cover.

Now for the fun part....Plants!

I've got some random plants hanging around in a couple tanks that aren't part if the aquascape...

A couple anubias, I think a coffee and a nana. Maybe a few types of java fern? A few random stems that are still surviving in my 20L PFR riparium. I was thinking about also using a few of the basic crypts that I've already got: several types of wendtii, lucens, beckettii, lutea, balansae. I've also got some bacopa on the way.

So that's where I'm at now, as far as my plan! I'm starting to clean up the tank and drill wholes this afternoon. I will probably try to get started planting this evening.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas or even "hey dummy, you're doin' it wrong" would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

So I made my own substrate mixture, Miracle Grow top soil, black onyx sand & some riparium planter gravel with some Osmocote plus mixed in. I figured the mixture would allow for a little more aeration/water flow.

I used a variety or clay/terra cotta pots as well as plastic containers that I drilled 1/4" holes in.

So I've added some stem plants and such, now it's time to start looking for some sweet crypts! Here are some pics!
Bacopa Caroliniana
Crypt lucens
Alt. Reineckii, B. colorata, Rotala Indica rotundifolia-added about a week ago, just starting to show growth, was previously submerged
You can kind of see the Vietnamese Coriander on the left also just added.
Cardamine
Glosso!

If anyone has suggestions based on my set up & pics on how to better grow any of these plants in this set up PLEASE share them with me! This is my first attempt at an emersed set up! I would love some feedback on this! Thanks!

So I started this project back in March, I'm really enjoying growing plants emersed. I've become extremely interested in different cryptocoryne species! I've done a ton of reading online. While I've not started getting any of the less common crypts yet, I've been picking up supplies here and there. I think I'm going to switch most of the plants in this 20L into a spare 55 I've got. I've still gotta pick up some small pots of a uniform size so that I can maximize the number of plants I will be able to fit into the 55. Here are a few pictures of the 20L in its current set up. I've recently started misting it with RO water once every other day or so.
Bacopa Caroliniana

So I've got a few more crypt species and an anubias barteri nana true petite on the way for this tank & hopefully a few Bucephalandra species!
I have yet to find the square pots in the size I want(& not 100 or 200 qty) but I did pick up a few 3" round pots. I will probably pick up a few more of these pots.

I do have a 50L bag of hydroton & about 40 3" net pots on the way as well!! These are mostly going to be used for an aquaponics system I am gathering items for. I will document this build here as well. I do plan to use the hydroton as a substrate for any emersed anubias or buce too!

I'd like to start a project like this too but I'm kinda unsure as to the transition of submersed to immersed and back again.

I've transitioned most of my crypts from submersed. They look pretty pitiful for a while but the growth seems to have sped up.
I've mostly transitioned plants from emersed to submersed when purchasing plants. These also have a ton of stress from shipping most of the time added into the mix too. I know some plants suffer from the transition more then others. I recently planted emersed Bacopa caroliniana into my 2.5 gallon vase. It made the transition to submersed smoothly with no issues at all.
I'm expanding my set up with the hopes of keeping a large variety of Cryptocoryne species. The real goal for me is to get the plants to flower!

Last night I added several Cryptocoryne species: spiralis, parva, wendtii 'Florida Sunset', lingua, becketii, lutea. A few I moved from my 20L pfr tank & most were new. I also added two true Anubias barteri var nana petite that were imported from Singapore. This came from Gordon as did the parva for the 20L.

I finally set up the 55 last night as well! Which can of course be seen in the picture. Lol. I've got a few more crypt species arriving this week: C. nurii, C. hudoroi & C. griffithii! Along with three unknown species of Bucephalandra! I think that's it for the moment. Although I'm also looking to add several other Cryptocoryne species over the next few weeks. I'm talking to a guy on apc about six or seven other species.

The C. nurii & three Buce species arrived today! My mail man has realized that if I get a package, it's probably live plants so he dropped them off first! I've gotta run pick up more pots still! I opened the package & checked out the plants. I then repacked them until I've got the pots in a bit.

Well, the C. nurii is amazing! First time I've seen it in person! Three Buce species showed up with a fourth extra!

So, for my own sanity or perhaps due to my insanity, I'm going to create a master list of the plants I'm growing emersed. I will keep the list in this post updated when I receive new plants. Since I'm planning on keeping some species that are considered by some to be difficult to cultivate, I will also include plants I've not been able to successfully grow.

Here are a few pics of the tanks today. It'll be interesting to see how it fills in. I hope the crypts adjust well with out tons of melting, though I doubt I'll be that lucky. I've still gotta find a heater for the 55. I dug out an old air pump and set up an air stone in the 55.

There are still two more packages of crypts on the way. One is all C. nurii about half of which will go into my 20L the rest will grow here. The second package is the hudoroi & griffithii.

The plan is to also add the following plants in the next week or so but they've not been ordered yet.
C. pontenderiifolia
C. moehlmanii
C. albida
C. ciliata
C. undulata
C. usteriana x walkeri

Suggestions, thoughts or comments are welcome! I'm just getting started trying to grow crypts emersed. I know there are many people on here with tons of experience, I hope to learn from y'all!

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